Long Island comedic writer Paul Laikin dies at 84

Funny man Paul Laikin, who wrote humorous stories and gags for the industry’s best known comedy publications, died Saturday of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was 84.

Laikin got his start in comedic writing producing jokes for comedian Harry Savoy when Savoy appeared on the Kate Smith Radio Show, and Milton Berle, who had a radio show of his own at the time. Laikin went on to work for the William Morris Agency where he contributed gags to comedians including Jackie Gleason, Jan Murray and Ed Wynn.

In 1957, Laikin found a new outlet for his humor, writing for upstart Mad Magazine. He stayed with Mad for a few years, and went on to write for and edit other humor magazines including Cracked, Sick, Loco, Frenzy, Panic and Think. He soon settled down to become editor of Cracked, where he remained for three years.

Laikin also wrote several humor paperbacks for Pyramid Publications, including “101 Hippie Jokes,” “Good ‘N’ Sick,” “Grab Bag of Humor” and the “Classic Corny Joke Book.”

In 1977, Paul and his family moved to Plainview, where he spent the next several years freelancing comedy material for different media, including Mad Magazine.

Laikin, an Army veteran of World War II, was predeceased by his wife, Betty, who died in 1967. He is survived by his two children, Aron, an artist and web designer, and Eden, a former Newsday reporter and now an aide to Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. He also has three grandchildren, Amanda, Isabella and Sasha.

A memorial service will held for Laikin on Thursday at noon at Noce Funeral Home in West Babylon.

One comment

In a book review for Amazon’s UK version, I wrote that, while ‘If You’re Cracked, You’re Happy’ “…mentions Paul [Laikin]’s Ronald Reagan Colouring Book, this is one of the sequels to his successful JFK Colouring Book, the real jewel in Laikin’s crown, which the [Cracked] book omits to mention. While Laikin does not always come out of this book well, I liked Laikin at [MAD] and still wish he had stayed with the successful magazine.” – RIP – David Robinson, Peterborough, England